Steve Jobs is no longer the man who spent the longest time as Apple CEO. Tim Cook, the executive currently in charge, has now surpassed Jobs’ record of 4,249 days with that title, making him officially Apple’s longest-serving CEO.
But it turns out the calculation isn’t that simple. Steve Jobs spent several additional years in charge of Apple. He just wasn’t officially “Apple CEO” at the time.
Tim Cook is Apple’s longest-serving CEO
Chris Espinosa — an Apple employee since 1976 — said on Thursday via Mastodon, “As of today, Tim Cook becomes Apple’s longest-serving CEO at 4250 days in the seat.”
Screenshot: Cult of Mac
Tim Cook became Apple CEO in August 2011 and has held the post until today. He was named CEO just weeks before Steve Jobs’ death in October 2011.
Steve Jobs took over Apple’s top spot in 1997. But his title was “Interim CEO.” He was holding the position temporarily while the BoD looked for someone to fill the role permanently.
The person they settled one to be the new head of Apple was [SPOILERS] Steve Jobs. But it wasn’t until 2010 that his title changed officially to “CEO.” He ran the company for another decade until he became ill and passed away.
If one ignores the Interim-CEO-vs.-CEO question, it won’t be until October 2025 that Tim Cook will outlast Steve Jobs as the head of Apple.
CEOs in the early days of Apple
During the first two decades of Apple’s history, the company had five CEOs. Many people might be shocked to learn that Steve Jobs wasn’t one of them. He was considered too young and inexperienced to run the company when it incorporated in 1977 then was booted out in 1985.
The list goes:
- Michael Scott (1977–1981)
- Mike Markkula (1981–1983)
- John Sculley (1983–1993)
- Michael Spindler (1993–1996)
- Gil Amelio (1996–1997)
Amelio’s brief tenure was a disaster, and Apple was approaching bankruptcy when the Board of Directors invited Steve Jobs to come back.
Steve Jobs was the first iCEO
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac
Who’s counting?
Length of time with a certain title certainly isn’t the most important criteria to compare these two people. (See our shootout:
Steve Jobs’ time as CEO brought the world iPhone and iPad. Tim Cook oversaw the release of Apple Watch and AirPods. Jobs’ returned Apple from near bankruptcy, and Cook took its valuation to over $2 trillion dollars.
Realistically, the company has done fantastically under both of them.
